8 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Designing Website Forms

We all want potential and existing customers to flock to our business website and engage with us. There is a lot we can learn from a single site visit, especially when we consider website form conversion rates. However, there’s a great chance we might end up turning people away if we design website forms incorrectly.

Often, these forms are an afterthought because no one likes to use or fill them out. But what if it’s all about the overall website form design? Maybe people are turned off and discouraged from making contact with your brand because of how your site’s online forms are made to look.

In this article, we will list the common mistakes many companies make when designing website forms. Then, we’ll help you with concrete solutions for each by sharing form design best practices. This way, you can rest assured your website and online forms will work for your business just as you hope they will.

Mistake 1: Too many fields

Think about how you feel when you're in a rush or just going through the motions to get things done, only to be confronted by a form that demands too much information. Sometimes, it's easier to forget about the form and take your business elsewhere. Overloading forms with too many fields can overwhelm users, leading to form abandonment. And what about when you have a complaint and need to file a claim online? A lengthy form can cause unnecessary aggravation. This is detrimental to the company. So, if you were a business owner designing website forms, what would you do?

Solution: Simplify the form by including only the essential fields. Believe it or not, customer concerns can be resolved or a sale can be even with just a handful of information available to you. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the purpose of the form?

• Who will be using it?

• Which details do you most need?

• Is there a need for mandatory fields?

• What are the follow-up actions required?

You can also use progressive disclosure to reveal additional fields as needed.

Wait. What does progressive disclosure mean, you ask?

Progressive disclosure refers to the practice of hiding sections that are not immediately important until necessary for the submission. This approach minimizes stress on the person answering the questions or supplying the information, making the form as short and straightforward as possible. The best examples of progressive disclosure can be found in most e-commerce order forms when asking for a customer’s shipping address. Typically, there’s a box at the bottom of the section for use when the billing address differs from the shipping one. If the box is ticked, a new section appears where the other address can be provided. These pieces of information are then fed into your company's CRM.

Mistake 2: Unclear field labels

More annoying than overly long forms that ask too many questions are forms that have unclear and/or confusing field labels. You may want those highfalutin words and terminologies, snazzy fonts, or ultra-rich, contrasting colors on your questionnaire. Keep in mind, though, that vague or technical jargon in field labels can confuse users the same way contrasting colors or swirly letters can. As always, it’s best to think about your demographic and ask yourself these questions when designing website forms:

• What if they have poor eyesight?

• What if the person filling out the form is elderly?

• What if they get overwhelmed too easily when they’re unsure where to put which piece of information?

• What is the impact of a section that’s incorrectly filled out?

Solution: Use clear, concise, and user-friendly language for labels in designing website forms for your online store. What do you need from the customer? State it plain and simple. Then, you can expect to get plain and simple answers that you can use.

Another solution is to consider using placeholder texts as guides. What are placeholder texts in relation to effective form design? Picture those online forms with the boxes where you put the text. Inside those boxes are short descriptions of what’s required. For example, a box labeled PASSWORD and inside the box it might say: 8 characters, 1 capital letter & 1 symbol. It would then be very easy to meet the requirements.

Mistake 3: Poor mobile optimization

As much as some of us hate to acknowledge it, mobile devices have become essential. The number of things one person can get done in a day with just a smartphone is mind-blowing. If you want your business to stay relevant and visible, you should move with the times. Website forms that are not optimized for mobile devices can be difficult to use on smaller screens – one of the online form mistakes you would want to avoid. Remember how mobile devices are of great consequence to a lot of people as you’re designing website forms. You don’t want people to get headaches from squinting and trying to make out what your online forms are asking for.

Solution: Design responsive forms that adapt to different screen sizes and use touch-friendly input fields. This is especially crucial for sales and order forms. Do everything that you can to avoid frustrating your existing and potential customers with your online form mistakes. Test and retest your forms before they go live to check for form usability and accessibility. Ensure that none of the elements get distorted and pixelated when users zoom in and out. Having user-friendly online forms can come a long way in brand success.

Mistake 4: Lack of inline validation

Imagine filling out an exhaustive online form. You can’t be done with it and move on to the next stage of the process. After a lifetime of supplying your information and clicking the “Submit” button, you get an error. Now, you have to scroll back up and look for the error that you have made. Without real-time feedback, users may only discover errors after submitting the form, leading to frustration. How inconvenient! Maybe you can put it off until tomorrow, right? After all, you’ve spent more than enough time on it today.

Solution: Implement inline validation to provide immediate feedback as users fill out the form fields. A prime example of inline validation is what happens when you try to set up a new online password for something. As you type, there may be times when the box is shaded pale red and a message is displayed beside it indicating if what you’ve typed so far is a weak, medium, or strong password. You can tailor your preference as you go along to satisfy the form requirements for submission.

Mistake 5: Inadequate error messages

Encountering error messages while filling out forms can be exasperating but expected. It is even more vexing when the mistake is not immediately apparent, preventing prompt correction.

Some error messages are just too vague to be helpful enough. Sometimes, site visitors need more clarification or information about what needs to be redone. Imagine hitting “Submit” after spending an inordinate amount of time filling out an online form and getting an error message that only says: “Please fix the errors” and nothing else.

Solution: Provide specific and helpful error messages that guide users on how to fix the issues when designing website forms. This takes away the stress of having to deal with error messages that are not adequately explained or highlighted. What you get in return is efficient completion of your required details, another one to add to your collection of user-friendly forms. You’ll be able to gather the information you need without the annoyance or impatience web form errors can cause your audience.

Mistake 6: No auto-fill function or suggestions

Imagine being faced with a considerably long online form that you have to fill out and then finding out it doesn’t have auto-full options. It also doesn’t have intuitive input suggestions to save time. Think about having to repeat some of the same information over and over in the same form. Sounds time-consuming and tiring, right? That’s because it is.

Solution: Enable auto-fill features to save time and make things easier for the user overall. Your customers, especially repeat ones, will greatly appreciate this form optimization. Auto-fill features for information such as name, address, and phone number can offer convenience without endangering someone else’s sense of security.

You can also configure your online forms to suggest common answers based on the input to speed up the process. If your online form includes questions with answers that may be repeated, you can set up a way for the most common answers to be readily recommended. The user can then click on the appropriate suggestion to complete the form.

Mistake 7: Poor visual design

No one wants to waste their time trying to find their way around a confusing and badly designed online form. A cluttered or visually unappealing form can deter users from completing it. Before filling out an online form, users often give it a quick review to ensure it is user-friendly. Whenever you’re designing website forms, it’s understandable that you want to capture as many pieces of important information as possible. This is whether or not the form is meant to complete a sale, gather information for sales and marketing or broaden your pool of leads. However, it’s also vital to keep them pleasing to look at and inviting to fill out.

Solution: Use a clean and simple design with plenty of white space, clear headings, and a logical flow. Here are other form design tips you might want to consider:

• If the form ends up being too long, you can chop it up into sections before splitting them into slides. This helps in keeping your site visitors from being overwhelmed or confused

• Use colors that complement each other. Take into consideration the fact that some people have sensitive eyes when it comes to colors, textures, and contrasts. If you or someone you know is familiar with color psychology, it might help to capitalize on that

• Don’t leave too many dead spaces and if there are, keep proportions in mind

• Maintain proportions not only in creating dialogue or text boxes, images, or other graphics. Disproportionate sizing can throw off the look of the entire form

If you’re having problems getting a clear picture of how your online form should look, put yourself in your audience’s shoes and ask yourself: “How would I design it for me?”

Mistake 8: Lack of privacy and security assurance

Nowadays, scammers will stop at nothing to steal, and they are the bane of any business with an online presence. It’s widely known how prevalent cases are and how thousands of innocent people are victimized daily. Users may be reluctant to provide personal information if they are unsure about the security and privacy of their data.

Solution: We’ve got a couple of recommendations for you! You can implement the following items when designing website forms:

• Clearly state your privacy policy and security measures

• Include trust signals such as SSL (Secure Socket Layering) badges and privacy assurances

• Specify that your site will not ask for and store sensitive such as financial ones

• Give users an email to contact in case they have further questions or concerns

Security is a very sensitive topic for many people, and you should take it seriously if you want to build a long list of loyal customers and establish your brand as a reliable and safe one for consumers.

Build better online forms with Bitrix24

Many people might not have considered it enough and treated website forms as more of an afterthought, but they are critical to any business. Whether you’re garnering leads, deals, or contacts, your online forms need to be tailored to your needs and preferences. You and your team will need a website builder that can make this happen for your business.

A well-equipped and hardworking website design team is a must, but so is a website-building tool that does not disregard the importance of a clean, well-thought, and carefully-designed website form. Bitrix24 offers a robust website building toolbox complete with a top-of-the-line website form developer. Sign up now and delight in the many benefits of working with Bitrix24 to create a website with online forms your business will thrive with.

FAQs

What are the common mistakes in website form design?

The common mistakes in website form design are:

• Too many fields

• Unclear field labels

• Poor mobile optimization

• Lack of inline validation

• Inadequate error messages

• No auto-fill or suggestions

• Poor visual design

• Lack of privacy and security assurance

How can I make my website forms more user-friendly?

You can make your website forms more user-friendly by:

• Including only essential fields

• Arrange fields in a logical order that follows the user's thought process

• Using clear and concise language

• Making forms adaptable to different screen sizes

• Implementing real-time validation

• Providing specific and helpful error messages

• Enabling auto-fill features

• Using a clean and simple design

• Clearly stating your privacy and security measures

What are the best practices for designing effective website forms?

Some of the best practices for designing effective website forms are:

• Differentiate between required and optional fields

• Keep it short and to the point (even with error messages)

• Make it accessible

• Ensure a nice, sensible flow

• Design with the end user in mind

How can I ensure my website forms are secure?

To ensure your website forms are secure, you can:

• Use SSL encryption to protect data transmitted through your forms.

• Implement CAPTCHA to prevent automated bots from submitting forms.

• Ensure that data entered into the form is encrypted both in transit and at rest.

• Collect only the necessary information to reduce the risk of data breaches.

• Conduct regular security audits to identify and address potential vulnerabilities.

• Clearly state your privacy policy and data protection measures on the form page.